Scoring 1000 points in a high school basketball career is incredibly rare.  Even with four years of varsity basketball with about 20 games per year, a player has to average about 12.5 points per game over that 4 year span to reach the 1000 points. According to Athletic Director Bill Tompkins and extensive yearbook research, only six other people have hit this benchmark: Walpole basketball legends such as Tim Collins (1988), Meghan Sullivan (1989), Nicole Wolfe (2002), Tim Clifford (2004) and Matt Wolfe (2004).  While the Rebels’ record improved to 5-3 with the win against Milton on January 9, the game will be most remembered for Summer King’s 1000th point. She finished the game with 11 points and 1003 points in her career.  The feat was made all the more impressive by the fact that Walpole is not yet halfway through their regular season, meaning King has even more time to pile up the points.

Summer King scored her 1000th point for Walpole Girls Basketball in the first quarter of the game.

Before the game, King already had 992 points to her name, so she needed only eight more points to get to the 1000 mark. She started the game off in the best possible fashion, driving through the lane and getting fouled while scoring, giving her a three point play.

At that point, she was up to 995 points and the Rebels were up 3-0. Walpole’s hot start soon called, and they were up 7-6 until King hit a jumper from the elbow. She was now only 3 points from 1000, and the Rebels were up 9-6.

With a minute left in the half, King had 999 and was gunning for that last bucket. With just 35 seconds left in the quarter, she finally had her chance with a simple layup. It was her ninth point of the game, and put her at 1001 for her high school career. A timeout was called, and all of the fans stood up and cheered.

“I mostly felt relived and excited because [scoring 1000 points] has been a goal for a few years,” said King. “Being able to experience it with my friends and family was the greatest reward.”

Even after the 1000th point, there was still plenty of basketball left to be played. Walpole was up by a score of 17-11 after the first quarter, and Milton certainly were not going to roll over. However, Walpole continued to push the pace and continue to score, determined not to sour King’s special night.

Ever since the first possession of the game, Walpole held the lead and never looked back. They got up 28-20 at the half, and at the end of three quarters they extended their advantage to 18 points, going up 46-28.

In the fourth quarter, Coach Jim Gallivan brought in the entire rotation of substitutes to let every player get some time. However, they continued to dominate the flow of play and came out the victors by a score of 52-39.

In her very next game, King showed she has no intention of slowing down. In a 52-30 beatdown of Dedham on Tuesday, she exploded for 23 points and was the highest scorer in the game.

With King continuing to score at a prolific rate, everyone is wondering how high she can go, and how far she can bring this Walpole team in the state tournament.  As for the statistics, reporters will need to go back to the yearbooks and old newspapers to see how Summer’s career point-total measures against the rest of her esteemed four-digit company in the history books.

Photos by Max Simons and Hiromi Kondo.